THE BIGGEST, FATTEST, FLUFFIEST BUTTER BISCUITS IN GOD'S CREATION

THE BIGGEST, FATTEST, FLUFFIEST BUTTER BISCUITS IN GOD'S CREATION
Minnie Lee Cannon Smith

Minnie Lee Cannon, born in 1876, married Edward Buist Smith.  They had several children, including my great grandmother, whom I called Big Ma, but whom the world called Lilly Cora Smith.  Big Ma married Walter B. Shannon, and one of their four children was my mother, Minnie Earline Shannon Pittendreigh.  My Mom hated her first name, Minnie, and dropped it when she married my Dad.  One of the problems with that name is that people sometimes joked that she was named after the girlfriend of Mikey Mouse, Minnie.  Actually, Mom was named after her mother's mother.  I know very little about Minnie Lee Cannon, but I do know one thing.  She gave my Mom an awful name and an awesome biscuit recipe.

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoonsgranulated sugar

½ teaspoons salt

½ cup COLD unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2.     In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.

3.     Cut in the COLD butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands. The dough is good when it forms coarse crumbs have formed and by grabbing a fistful it sticks together.

4.     Gently fold in the buttermilk with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

5.     Generously flour a clean work surface. Keep your flour nearby to dust hands and the dough regularly.

6.     Knead the dough a bit in the bowl. It will be wet and sticky. Be sure to incorporate any dry bits from the bottom of the bowl.

7.     Turn the dough out onto your prepared surface, flour your hands, and knead it a few times.

8.     Form the dough into an oval shape that is about an inch thick.

9.     Fold the short sides toward the middle. This is will give your finished biscuits their “layered” texture. Smack the folded dough down and press it back out into the oval shape. Repeat this process 7 times, but on the 7th time, skip the folding and get ready to cut out your biscuits. Think of it as the 7 days of God’s Creation of the universe, but on the 7^th day God rested. 

10.Cut biscuits out into 2-inch circles. Changing the size will change the baking time.

11.Space the biscuits an inch or so apart on your prepared baking sheet.

12.Bake for 20 minutes.

13.Option: brush the tops with melted butter as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven.